572 AUSTRALIAN LAND PLANARIANS, 



organs. By their aid the worm probably becomes aware of the 

 presence of objects to be avoided and also of its prey. 



Though land planarians are properly nocturnal in their habits, 

 some species are by no means adverse to moving about in day- 

 light during dull, moist weather. I have specially noted this 

 habit in the case of Geoplana ccerulea, Moseley, which I have 

 found at Wentworth Falls and elsewhere actively crawling along 

 by day. My brother, Mr. John S. Steel, has noticed the same 

 fact about this species at Mount Bauple in Queensland. Dendy 

 has recorded the occurrence of the same habit in other species, 

 notably G. Stcgdeni, Dendy. 



The tenacious slime which is so freely secreted all over the 

 body surface is no doubt of service as a protection from possible 

 enemies by rendering them unpalatable, as well as constituting 

 an important means of capturing their prey. 



Dendy has recorded his observations on the rejection of living 

 planarians by domestic fowls (7, p. 69). I have noticed that 

 fowls will readily eat planarians which have had the slime 

 coagulated hj preservation in spirit. This treatment would, of 

 course, by coagulation, completely neutralize the objectionable 

 properties of the slime. 



Land planarians are, of course, hermaphrodite, the £ and £ 

 organs opening into a common genital atrium, the external 

 orifice of which is situated on the ventral surface behind the 

 peripharyngeal aperture, at a distance from it vai'ying in different 

 species. While the latter aperture is usually readily detected in 

 spirit preserved specimens, the genital opening cannot always be 

 seen, being most conspicuous about the breeding season, while at 

 other times it may be very small and obscure. Specimens are 

 frequently met with having a large swelling just behind the 

 genital aperture, caused by the presence of an egg-capsule. This 

 is a round or somewhat oval body, having a hard chitinous shell, 

 smooth and shining, and of a brown colour while in the uterus 

 and for a day or so after laying, but turning to shining jet black 

 after that. 



